Opening a School in Kansas

The Kansas State Board of Education is the only entity in the state of Kansas that can provide state accreditation to schools. Although there are numerous national agencies that accredit schools, schools with accreditation from these organizations are not necessarily "state-accredited schools." To be a state-accredited school in Kansas, a school must complete the accreditation process established by the Kansas State Board of Education.

Any person seeking to open a state-accredited school in Kansas needs to do the following:

Review the current State Accreditation Regulations in order to determine whether or not the new school can abide by those regulations. Please contact our accreditation staff at (785) 368-7356 or accreditation@ksde.org for more information.

Review all state education statutes impacting schools in Kansas in order to ensure compliance. You may contact Scott Gordon at (785) 296-3204 for more information on the statutes.

Complete a request for a "School Building Number" in Authenticated Applications. Select "Directory" from the list of items available. From the menu at the top, select "School Menu." Then choose from the following options: Open, Close, Change Name or Reconfigure. This form goes through an electronic process. You will receive written notification when your request has been approved.

Once a school has been approved, it will be considered a Candidate School. It will hold this status during the first year. At that time, and for all subsequent years, accreditation status will be determined based on both quality and performance accreditation standards as defined in the Quality Performance Accreditation Regulations.